


The Finish Line

by bensreylo



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Explicit in later chapters, F/M, Racing, Sexual Tension, Slow Burn, Street Racing, Usual Nonsense Ensues, obviously
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-05
Updated: 2018-09-05
Packaged: 2019-07-07 05:33:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15901887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bensreylo/pseuds/bensreylo
Summary: "So, where are we?" Rey breaks the fragile silence first.He swallows so hard that she hears the gulp and it's very unfair that her neck flushes in response. "Want to come see for yourself?"No, she doesn't. She wants nothing to do with this almost human version of Ben Solo who is reaching out to her when he has all the more reason to hate her than she does. Her logical side (one that sounds an awful lot like Finn) is a faint voice at her ear, convinced this whole trip was a ploy, a way to lower her defences and find a weakness to use against her during the race.-Rey finds herself locked in a racing tournament against highly esteemed racer Kylo Ren, who hasn't lost a race in four years until she gets behind the wheel in an impromptu (illegal) street race on the San Diego coast.





	The Finish Line

Rey's hands tighten on the wheel, unease leaving her breathless. A dozen thoughts hit her at once: _Was stealing the car worth it? Was entering into an illegal street race worth it? Was her life worth-_ The alarm rings out and she presses down hard on the accelerator. The car lurches forward and she gasps as her head snaps back into the headrest but doesn't let up, she can't lose ground this early. If she wants to get away from her foster family, she has no choice but to win.

The man to her right in a car that has been modified past the point of make recognition cuts her off on the first turn. She brakes hard, skidding in time to avoid crashing into the wall and speeds up the ramp with every intention of returning the favour. Before she can, they're halfway up the parking lot's levels and it's getting difficult to see what's ahead of her. She huffs angrily and realises the problem - the windows are fogging up. Blindly fumbling to her right, she pushes a number of buttons until the passenger window cracks open and hot air escapes. Rey immediately regrets the decision, her ears ringing from the onslaught of screeching tires and howling engines.

"No, no, no!" She chants as she loses her second place spot when another finds the opening needed and cuts her off. She trails close behind them, engine whining at her close proximity and reluctance to ease up. "A little more," she urges. "We can't afford to lose." For a Ferrari with little to no modifications, it holds up well enough. Her foster father was a 'car enthusiast' but nothing special.

On the second to last level, Rey finally sees her opening to regain the first place position - she presses forward as much as the car will allow and leans into the steering wheel, urging with her body to go just a bit faster. End in sight, she jerks the wheel to the left and-

"Rey!" Finn snaps his fingers in her ears. "Get the hell up, you slept half the day away."

Grumbling, Rey sits up in bed (a mattress on the ground pushed to the furthest corner, but still her bed) and rubs at her eyes. It wasn't a dream, a memory but it has always left her longing for the ending; to relive the moment over and over before it all went _so_ wrong. For all it's faults, that night was the best thing to happen to her. She glances at Finn, rushing around her room to help get her ready for the night shift at DJ's Bar and _yeah,_ she decides, _the race was definitely worth it._ They would have never met otherwise.

"Aha!" Finn emerges from the closet with her apron. "And it's _clean._ Good thing I bought that second one for you, huh?"

She reaches out blindly to take it from him, eyes still shut tight to block out the harsh rays of sun streaming through the blinds. "My hero," she muses dryly. "Where would I be if I were forced to wear the same apron for the third night in a row?" But she already knows the answer. Her apron has grease stains all over it and DJ would be furious.

He tsk's at her and flicks the lamp to her right on. "DJ would dock your pay, so unable to buy your share of groceries for one and _secondly,_ " he sits heavily opposite her on the bed, the shift of balance causes her to bounce slightly and she groans in protest as he takes her upper arms and shakes her. "He wouldn't let you step a foot inside the garage as punishment, peanut."

Reluctantly, she blinks her eyes open to glare at him. He has a point. He always has a point. It was one of those things she loves to hate about him. Hate, because it made arguing with him nigh impossible but love because she could never truly be mad at him or resent his advice. Still, he was basically her brother and that means she doesn't have to like him for it. She nudges his hip with her knee.

"Move, I have to get ready."

* * *

 

Rey scowls as a third customer walks into DJ's Bar ten minutes before closing. Why anyone thought it was appropriate to show up for their drink when they would have to leave before being able to even finish the beverage was beyond her comprehension and being in this business for a year now, she's had her fair share of questions that seemingly don't have a straight answer. Yet, it's stated in her job description that she _must_ be friendly to customers so she forces a smile.

"Can I get you anything?"

The man returns the smile, rushes up to the bar almost sheepishly and she's struck by the shade of brown his eyes are - really, they had no right causing her to relax after the longest shift of the week but she exhales softly, her unwarranted anger at him for even stepping foot into the bar fading in an instant.

"Not a drink, sorry, but uh, the garage next door? The sign says it's open but the doors are shut-"

"Oh, yeah, we do that because people try and sneak in and steal things at this hour," Rey explains and gestures to her coworker to start closing up. "If you give me a minute, I can meet you 'round front."

"I don't want to put you out or anything."

"You're not," she grabs a rag from under the counter and wipes down the polished wood. "I was heading over after my shift anyway." He nods and takes a seat out of her way. Now she had a legitimate reason to cross the small distance from the bar to the garage and DJ couldn't say a bloody word about it. She glances at the man off in the corner, flicking through his phone and doesn't miss the racing gloves or the leather jacket displaying two sponsors on his shoulder. "So, you're a racer huh?"

He looks up. "Am I that obvious?"

"We get a lot of them coming in here given the workshop next door. DJ had that in mind when he opened this place." She gestures in the general direction of the garage with her free hand. "My friend works there, I help him out with car modifications where I can."

The corner of his mouth lifts and he rises from the booth. "You may be able to help me then. I'm Poe, by the way."

* * *

 

Shift over, Rey escapes the bar, exiting out back and walking the five steps to DJ's Auto Repair shop. She nudges the door open with a shoulder as she works to free the knot of the apron behind her back. The workshop has an ever-present layer of dust, even with the open garage doors and cracked windows, but it doesn't bother her the way it does most other girls at the bar. They _hate_ coming over to ask DJ about anything and complain when they return and have managed to get oil on their skin even if they swear they never touched a thing. Not Rey. She feels right at home.

"Hey you," Rey moves to where Finn is crouched beside a tire, inspecting the shredded rubber. "How did that happen?"

"Some guy stopped by, threw it through the doors and sped off." Finn shrugs. "DJ said to throw it out but..."

" _But_ you can't let a tire go to waste if there's a chance of salvaging it." She finishes for him and smiles fondly. It was a trait they both shared, one gained from their experience in foster families and how often they bounced around different homes, never being able to keep what they owned for long. With their new lives, it became that much harder to let go of things they could keep, things that only needed a little work and would be good as new. The tire, however, had minimal chance of being saved. "I hate to say it, but I think it's run its course."

"'Spose you're right." He keeps working on it anyway and Rey glances at DJ's office. She knows he's in there, can _hear_ him tapping away on his keyboard and it aggravates her he hasn't left yet. Finn always closes up and it gives her enough time to help him work on clients' cars without being watched like a hawk.

"Give me a hand with this, will you?"

"He'll see."

Finn looks over his shoulder at her, oil smeared on his cheek and coating his beige work-issued overalls. He was always a mess at this job. She envied it. If a strand of hair was out of place at the bar, her coworkers (and customers) would nag her about it the whole night.

"He might come around, you know."

She rolls her eyes in response. When she put in an application for the job, DJ had thrust it straight back into her hands. _'We don't hire women. I have a bar next door where you will be of much more use.'_ Had she not been desperate for a job, Rey would have never taken him up on the offer but this way, she got paid and she could still hang around in the garage and help on customer's cars when Finn was left to lock up. Evidently, tonight would not be one of those nights.

"There's a customer out front. His name is Poe, needs some modifications done. He's a _racer._ " She rolls back and forth on the balls of her feet, eager to get him inside and see what they were working with. Finn stands to open the roller door for Poe to drive in with his car and Rey hovers by the tire, excitement giving way to apprehension. So far, she never met a car she didn't know how to fix - she was good at that - there was just always a small bundle of nerves in the pit of her stomach when a new project rolled in.

When Poe drives his corvette into the garage, Rey's stomach drops into her knees. It's not the newest make, but new enough that she's never encountered it before. Everything about the appearance of this car is all at once daunting and exciting. The brilliant orange paint job reminds her of a sunset, the kind her and Finn like to hike out to ? just to admire. It's low to the ground, lightweight and beautiful. She must be gaping openly because Poe leans out his window and laughs, "I know, right?"

"You... I mean- this is yours?" "You bet." He cuts the engine, jumps out and shakes Finn's outstretched hand. Judging by her friends dazed expression, he's having difficulty reigning in his awe as much as she is. "I take it not a lot of flyboys circle 'round here?"

Simple repairs were a dime a dozen. Modifications have become fairly frequent work. The 'flyboys', however, typically had their own private mechanic to handle any specific requests. This wasn't unfamiliar territory, but it was rare. Instead of articulating that, Rey circles around the vehicle, her new project, in a trance. Surface wise, the car was in good shape - perfect, even. What mattered was what was under the hood.

She motions for Poe to pop it open for her to take a look and he does, talking animatedly with Finn about replacing the seats with carbon-fire ones. The hood, itself, was made of that very same material - it's what allows the car to be fast and lightweight. Shucking her apron, Rey balances a knee on the headlight to get a closer look. Her fingers poke and prod, pull and pinch and her nose scrunches.

"Your spark plugs are ruined."

Poe halts mid-conversation with Finn, eyes widening. "Excuse me?"

"Your spark plugs, they're white. Something has been running too hot." She cranes her neck further, searching for the source. As she inspects, she questions him about the last time he had the car looked at and repaired - evidentially, he's been keeping up maintenance on his own. Finn talks him through their options and the price when the office door opens and DJ throws the keys by Finn's feet. He doesn't even look at her.

"Be sure to email Starkiller about sponsorships for their upcoming race season, got it?"

"Will do, boss." Finn moves away from Poe to say goodbye but Rey is now off in her own head. _Starkiller_ , the biggest racing event held every year in which dozens of racers go head to head in the playoffs before the championships. Winner gets a sizeable amount of money. Enough to retire with if you do it long enough. The money isn't what captivates her interest (though it _is_ a bonus), racing against the best of the best in a regulated and safe circuit - she smiles to herself. The event was well known, but she never actively followed the races nor does she know much about racing, to begin with. She had that one night, one that ended with her in juvie.

Sometimes she dreams about racing in Starkiller. Not often, only when it's been recently mentioned or she's thinking of it before bed. Most nights her dreams have nothing to do with racing or cars or driving at all. When she does, she wakes up feeling something she can't quite place - a sense of longing, almost.

"Think you can have those spark plugs and sets done by Friday?" Poe addresses her after DJ has left. He must have sensed the tension earlier as he kept quiet, to the side and watched her reaction when DJ said goodnight to them all but her. She appreciates that he's talking to her at an equal level.

"Yes, but why then?" Rey finally emerges from under the corvette's hood, smelling of fuel and residual smoke.

He smirks, as if he knew she would ask. "Can you keep a secret?" At her eager nod, he jabs a thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the garage doors. "There's an illegal street race being held this weekend between the competitors of Starkiller. Just a friendly meet up to suss out the competition, you know? Police won't be involved thanks to Phasma. Her mother runs the San Diego Police Department."

During his explanation, Rey had felt Finn's eyes on her. He never quite knew what she was thinking, after all this years they had never mastered the ability to sense one's emotions during the moment. All they had to guide them was familiarity - for one, she knows by the expression on his face that he's worried. Racing got her into trouble in the first place, and while it led to them meeting, she suffered for it.

Poe doesn't understand though, so he grins brightly when he adds, "Wanna come?"

"Yes."

* * *

 

Covered in sweat and crosslegged, Rey leans back on her hands to admire her work. The spark plugs have been replaced and she rewired the ignition to stop the engine from running too hot. Seats were now carbon-fire and jet black, you almost couldn't tell the difference from the originals but she knew Poe would be able to feel it when driving. They had been heavy and weighing the car down. It made perfect sense that he wanted them replaced with the same material the car was made of - easier to turn, quicker to start, faster to drive. She wipes the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand and sits on the bench positioned outside of DJ's office, just beneath his window.

Finn lifts her grease smudged legs up and settles them in his lap as he takes a seat. "Why don't you just quit? We can find another place-"

"You love this job and San Diego is known well for its car modifications. You won't get paid any better elsewhere." She throws an arm across her eyes, exhausted from her efforts and the weight of the conversation.

"Even so, you're miserable."

She removes her arm long enough to fix him with a pointed look. "Who's to say anywhere else is willing to hire a _female?_ You heard what DJ said. It's bad business. Makes the male customers feel inadequate and heaven help their fragile masculinity if they knew a _woman_ was to touch their precious vehicles only meant to compensate for small dicks and equally small minds."

Finn barks a laugh, shaking in amusement under her legs and she grins at him. Yeah, he has a point. She is miserable working a job she doesn't care for but in moments like this, when it's just them in the garage to work on clients cars, it's worth it. She sits up to regain his attention, "If you're happy, then so am I." And she means it.

When Poe comes to collect his car that Friday night, Rey is bouncing from foot to foot. The corvette was modified to his specifications and she never slacked off, but she was anxious by nature and second guessing her work was habitual. She thinks it started after her first foster family sent her back to the social worker when she got her first fail on a test. Now, failure hit her harder than necessary.

Finn is inside DJ's office and has been for almost twenty minutes discussing Starkiller. She wasn't sure how he could cope so long around that man, when being held up for two minutes had her itching to escape. Then again, if DJ had wanted to talk about mechanics or cars in general with her, maybe she'd be a little less irritated in his presence. She leans back, craning her neck to get a peak at Finn through the window. They're standing over DJ's office computer, staring hard at the screen in silence. Finn's eyes flick up to meet hers. He mutters something she can't hear and straightens up. Rey meets him at the door, inquisitive.

"DJ wants to become a sponsor for a competitor in Starkiller. Thinks it'll get the people to start frequenting more often."

She cringes. "I feel sorry for whoever accepts _that_ deal."

A streak of light illuminates Finn's face, ending their conversation and her heart stutters when Poe hops out of an Uber. He's grinning from ear to ear, staring right at his modified car. There was no actual change to the outside, all the work was internal but still, Rey feels a flicker of pride. "How's my baby? Oh, she looks fast, no doubt about that!" He pops the hood and scans Rey's handiwork. "Looks good, Rey. Really good."

Rey walks to the passenger side. "Are you racing her tonight?"

"Thinkin' about it." Poe drops the hood and waves Finn over to get into the backseat. They pile into the vehicle and Rey throws her apron out of the window, landing just outside DJ's office door. She hopes he trips on it.

Finn leans forward, balancing his elbows on the front seats. "What other famous racers are showing up?"

"Ever heard of Kylo Ren?"

**Author's Note:**

> This will either be 36 chapters or 48 - depending how much I hate myself.


End file.
